ESPN turns Angel Reeses 49 mebounds into proof that shes a legendary WNBA rebounder

ESPN really, really wants you to know how good Angel Reese is at rebounding.

The network published a lengthy feature Saturday about the "secrets" behind Reeses "legendary" work on the glass.

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Then it spent Sundays Fever-Dream game broadcast selling viewers on the article.

Ryan Ruocco brought it up during the first quarter and praised ESPN writer Katie Barnes for writing such a terrific article. Late in the second quarter, Ruocco tossed to Holly Rowe for another plug.

"You talked about Katie Barnes great article about Angel Reese and her rebounding acumen," Rowe said before discussing her favorite part of the story. She then closed with "Great article, Katie Barnes."

So, by halftime, ESPN had promoted its own Angel Reese profile twice during a live WNBA game.

That's fine. It's called cross-promotion and executives love that kind of stuff. They call it "corporate synergy."

But there's a big difference between mentioning a timely feature and turning a regular-season broadcast into a promotional tour for your colleagues work.

Especially when the story is working awfully hard to convince readers that Reese is not just a great rebounder, but some sort of basketball clairvoyant.

Let me be clear: I read the article so you don't have to. You're welcome. Sometimes I feel like readers don't appreciate all the things I do for them, so I felt it necessary to give myself some credit.

Anyway, the article compares Reese to Dennis Rodman and Charles Barkley. Seriously.

But it gets better.

It invokes magnets in her palms, rebounding DNA, a crystal ball, geometry, physics and something "beyond human understanding."

Reese herself offers a simpler explanation.

"I just know," she says.

Alrighty, then.

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Reese is a great rebounder. She reached 1,000 career rebounds in 79 games, 10 games faster than Tina Charles. She leads the WNBA in rebounds per game and her production on the glass is historically good.

But context matters.

The story includes a section titled "The mebound phenomenon." That's where Barnes reports that Reese has recorded 49 "mebounds" this season, or rebounds she grabbed after missing her own shot.

That's 25 more than the next-highest player in the league.

The same article reports that 148 of Reeses points this season have come on second-chance opportunities, 30% of her total, and that she is shooting 46.0% in the paint, worst among the 27 WNBA players with at least 175 paint attempts.

Barnes puts the numbers in the story. Then she asks readers to view all of it as proof Reese has basketball magnets in her palms.

Come on. Missing a layup and retrievi